A CANOEIST was arrested for paddling along a stretch of river in the Vale of Clwyd.

Shrewsbury Canoe Club said one of its members had been arrested for failing to pay the town’s JJ Canoeing and Rafting centre to use the stretch of the River Dee in Llangollen, directly outside its premises.

"Jim Jayes asserts this right by virtue of his lease of the river bed but the document is not publicly available and has never been published by Jim Jayes, so far as we are aware," said a spokesman for Shrewsbury Canoe Club.

"Many paddlers believe that if there was a test case, the courts would confirm that there is a general right for the public to navigate any river in England and Wales and that therefore Mr Jayes’ claim is unfounded in law."

Shrewsbury’s club claim that Llangollen instructor Jim Jayes, who runs the JJ Centre, wants to charge canoeists between £3 and £5 for the rights to launch from or pass his site, in the latest controversial move in a long-running dispute over rights to the river.

The club also said that although it did run sessions at the JJ site for many years, these would now have to be suspended until the dispute can be solved, adding that they were disappointed by Mr Jayes’ stance given his "previous strong support for the claim for public access to waterways".

"We cannot comment on this specific case at this stage, other than to say that it is intriguing that the police have decided to intervene in what should essentially be a civil matter," said Richard Harvey, of the Welsh Canoeing Association.

"The law in relation to access to and along water for all water users in England and Wales is complex and in need of clarification to avoid situations like this."

The Environment Agency, who look after the river, declined to comment on the matter, saying it was a private dispute between the two canoeing clubs rather than an issue of access rights.

North Wales Police confirmed that a man had been arrested and bailed in relation to the offence.

A North Wales Police spokesman said: "A man has been arrested on suspicion of obtaining services dishonestly and has been released on police bail pending further inquiries."

The River Dee is no stranger to struggles between different users. In 2004, anglers and canoeists clashed over which groups could use parts of the waterway, culminating in a protest in November that year which saw more than 500 canoeists demonstrating in the town centre.